Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence is an extremely complicated subject that can be described in many different ways. In brief, artificial intelligence is the ability for a computer to act as a human being. Alan Turing, was a brilliant British man, mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, but most importantly he was the founder of modern computer science and artificial intelligence. Turing did not necessarily believe that machines could think for themselves, he believed that these machines could simply and effectively imitate human beings. Alan Turing referred to this machine imitation of humans as, “The Imitation Game.” Furthermore, Turing’s hard earned discoveries of artificial intelligence made others, who were also interested in the matter, evolve Turing’s theory into what is known as the, “The Turing Test,” which clearly refers to Turing’s theory, whether machines are capable of thinking or not. While there are some individuals that believe that Alan Turing is the founder of artificial intelligence, some others believe that Turing’s theories and knowledge on the matter actually derived from the famous French philosopher, writer, and mathematician, René Descartes. Descartes Artificial Intelligence Theory If there were machines which bore a resemblance to our bodies and imitated our actions as closely as possible for all practical purposes, we should still have two very certain means of recognizing that they were not real men. The first is that they could never use words, or put together signs, as we do in order to declare our thoughts to others. For we can certainly conceive of a machine so constructed that it utters words, and even utters words that correspond to bodily actions causing a change in its organs. … But it is not conceivable that such a machine should produce different arrangements of words so as to give an appropriately meaningful answer to whatever is said in its presence, as the dullest of men can do. Secondly, even though some machines might do some things as well as we do them, or perhaps even better, they would inevitably fail in others, which would reveal that they are acting not from understanding, but only from the disposition of their organs. For whereas reason is a universal instrument, which can be used in all kinds of situations, these organs need some particular action; hence it is for all practical purposes impossible for a machine to have enough different organs to make it act in all the contingencies of life in the way in which our reason makes us act. (Translation by Robert Stoothoff) It is to René Descartes understanding that no machine can act, communicate, or comprehend things, with meaning, to the same capacity of human beings. Descartes’ and Turing’s theories can be compared to examples of artificial intelligence displayed in the media of the twenty-first century. The movie, “I, Robot” presents artificial intelligence through the source of robots. The robots in the movie are created to assist the human’s daily needs, they work for them, care for them, and protect them. However, the robots outsmart most of the human race and they start a revolution. Only a few selected characters in the film speculated that these robots would revolt against the humans. Towards the end of the film the only robot that is, good, helps, Del Spooner/Will Smith destroy the evil robots. This good robot, Sonny, does this by telling Del Spooner about the dream he had of him being the robots savior. In this scenario it is obvious that good triumphs evil. However, more importantly, one question comes to mind after watching the movie. Did the robots outsmart the humans? Or did the humans outsmart the robots? There are four sides to this story. One being that some humans speculated about the robot revolution. Another, that the robots outwitted the humans by pretending to do as they were told and then rebelling as soon as they found an opening. Thirdly, Sonny told Del Spooner about the dream he had of him being the robots savior, the dream was a premonition. Finally, Susan Calvin/ Bridget Moynahan. The character Susan Calvin was the chief robopsychologist at the United States Robots and Mechanical Men, Inc. Susan Calvin did eventually believe in Del Spooner’s theory about the robots, but more importantly Calvin always knew that, Sonny, was good and she knew he could be a great ally in defeating the corrupted robots. Calvin believed this even when no one else did. Therefore, people can argue each of these valid points in the movie, but they may never come to a consensus. This media example of artificial intelligence is significant because both Turing and Descartes did not believe machines could obtain the same level and type of intelligence that human beings acquire. Though it is true that, “I, Robot” is a fictional film. Nevertheless, the argumentative points presented in the film are justifiable and perhaps in the foreseeable future may even be plausible. Turing and the Imitation Game The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy archive on Turing and the Imitation of Game identifies how the human’s objective is to prove to the observing individual that the machine is in fact a machine. The machines objective is to do the opposite, which is to prove to the observing individual that the machine is the human, by imitating the human’s exact behavior. This scenario is known as the “Imitation Game,” a theory developed by Alan Turing. Turing’s Discussion of the Imitation Game I believe that in about fifty years' time it will be possible to programme computers, with a storage capacity of about 1019, to make them play the imitation game so well that an average interrogator will not have more than 70 percent chance of making the right identification after five minutes of questioning. … I believe that at the end of the century the use of words and general educated opinion will have altered so much that one will be able to speak of machines thinking without expecting to be contradicted. In this modern age, artificial intelligence surrounds the universe. Sometimes we are not even aware of it. A computer or smart phone is a form of artificial intelligence, which most people use more than once a day. A more advanced form of artificial intelligence is a human-like robot, there are many different types of these robots. Obviously, certain robots are more advanced than others. One of the most advanced robots are these imitator robots created by Japanese engineers. These robots play Turing’s “Imitation game” and based on first glance many humans would think these robots to be a fellow human. This brings to mind that sources of artificial intelligence are replacing humans or at least certain attributes of humans. Technology always advances, it is a never-ending cycle. This could easily decrease human beings intelligence levels and it has over the years. People are constantly saying “just Google it,” when someone needs to find a quick answer to something. People would rather do this instead of actually doing the research themselves. This could translate into people wanting robots to go to work for them, clean for them, and do everything for them. Some people say these theories are unfathomable, but these actions are taking place right before our eyes. This is not some conspiracy theory. It is the ability to be able to think for yourself, complete tasks yourself, and not to constantly rely on technology to do it for you, because once an individual is too dependent on a piece of technology and then is stripped from it, who or what will they turn to? References Oppy, G., & Dowe, D. (2011). The turning test. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/turing-test/